In my chest, my heart started jumping around.
“I know I said I wanted us to be friends, but obviously, I’m shitty at the boundaries that friends have,” he continued, his gaze never leaving mine. “Things are different now than they were then.”
Because of the baby.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen between us, but I know we can’t be just friends.” His forehead dipped to mine, and I sucked in an unsteady breath. “And I know—yeah, I know—you can’t just be friends with me. Friends don’t kiss like that and friends sure as fuck don’t come like you did around my cock and my fingers.”
Oh dear.
Those lips curved up at the corners. “So that’s why I haven’t been with anyone else, and I don’t plan on changing that. Not when you and I are going to try to make the best of this.”
Make the best of this? My thoughts spun those words around and around in my head. They weren’t the most romantic or the most promising, but they were the truth, and more than that, they were realistic expectations, and that was something I valued higher than pretty words.
Even though pretty words were nice to hear from time to time.
“Yeah.” I smiled up at him, feeling a bit shaken. “We’ll make the best of this.”
Making it work between us was immediately tested not even five minutes after we finished the yummy dinner. The in-home nurse had called.
Nick answered right away. “What’s happening, Kira?” Whatever she said on the phone wasn’t good, because his eyes closed and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “No—it’s okay. I’ll be right over. Yeah—no, it’s fine.”
When he hung up the phone, I spoke first. “You have to go. I understand.”
“I’m sorry. My grandfather is having another . . . thing.” He started to rise.
“Like I said, I totally understand.” I’d popped up. “Do you want me to go with you?”
The look on Nick’s face wasn’t something I’d forget in a long time. He looked horrified by the idea of me joining him. “No. That’s not necessary. Not at all.”
I didn’t take it personally, but I’d wanted to tell him that I could handle whatever was happening with his grandfather. However, I didn’t want to delay him further. Nick had started for the door, shrugging his jacket on. But before he left, he returned to where I stood and kissed me. Much like the first one, the sensations it evoked were shattering and devastating, with all the feelings it stirred to the surface.
I felt that kiss the whole time I was cleaning up.
The week leading up to Halloween ticked by with a weird feeling of things moving too slow and yet too fast at the same time. Being pregnant made me hyperaware of the passing of time, something I hadn’t really paid attention to before. Now everything in my head was catalogued by weeks.
Dan, one of the Lima brothers whom I’d met on my first day, had taken Rick and another salesperson on a business trip to the West Coast. I wanted to throw a little party at my desk. Maybe I’d get lucky and Rick would end up staying on the opposite coast. My heightened sensitivity to smell and to jackasses approved of such a move.
I was busy at work the entire week, helping Marcus prepare for his own business trip in November. He would be going to my hometown to help get all the approvals necessary for expanding the academy. I still wondered if Andrew’s daughter had an idea that her father was setting up shop there. I hadn’t seen her since the day Brock was hurt, and I hadn’t see him either.
On Thursday, Nick had surprised me with a text saying he was going to be in the city in an hour and asking if I wanted to get together for lunch. What shouldn’t have been a big deal had my stomach tumbled in knots. How crazy was it that it was the first time I’d ever done something like this with a guy I was interested in?
I had all this experience, but a lot was still unknown to me.
Grabbing my purse off the desk, I headed down to the gym level and immediately saw Nick crossing the street, heading toward the academy. I stepped outside and waited on the sidewalk.
His dark hair was growing, and I liked it that he was wearing it down. It was artfully messy and suited his striking face by softening the harder lines. Wearing his worn leather jacket, he hopped up on the sidewalk and stalked toward me. I couldn’t stop the smile from forming. I was such a goober.
“Hey,” he said, stopping in front of me. Pulling his hands out of the pockets of his jeans, he attacked the buttons on my coat. “Were you so excited to see me you couldn’t put your jacket on correctly?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yep. You got me.”
He chuckled as he finished with the last button near my neck. “I don’t want you getting sick.”
Since that was kind of cute, I didn’t undo the last button even though I felt like it was one inch away from choking me. “I thought we could hit up this diner two blocks down. They’re fast and I’ve always been able to find a seat.
“Fine with me.”
Nick fell in step next to me as we headed toward the crosswalk, navigating the steady stream of people. Our arms brushed every couple of steps, making me aware of how close our hands were. Would he hold my hand? Should I initiate the contact?
Why was I even thinking about any of that?
Mentally kicking myself, I glanced over at him as we waited for the little person in the box to turn green. “So what brought you into the city?”
“I was shopping for a Halloween costume.”
“What?” I laughed.